OTTAWA (CP) - The federal government and Canada Post have won a free trade skirmish in a fight against United Parcel Service. The American courier giant complained that Canada and the postal corporation were in violation of the NAFTA agreement and sought compensation.
UPS said Canada Post uses its postal monopoly to subsidize its Purolator and Priority Post services. But the central planks of the UPS complaint were thrown out Friday by a NAFTA tribunal, which sided with Canada on jurisdictional and cross-subsidization questions.
"We are pleased that Canada was successful in prevailing with some of our key arguments," a Canadian trade official said.
Officials said the tribunal accepted many Canadian points, although there are still issues to be decided.
"The claim was very broad. It's been considerably reduced."
The two sides have until early December to work out a timetable for arguing the remaining points of contention.
UPS had asked the tribunal to order Canada to pay all costs of the case, but the three-member panel said both sides should cover their own bills.
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